Alhambra Pattern (4)

All Moorish ornamentation is based on a strictly geometrical scheme, and every design may be resolved into a symmetrical arrangement of lines and curves at regular distances. The intersection of lines at various angles is the secret of the system. All these lines flow from a parent stem, and no figure or ornament is introduced at random. Moslem ornamentation abhors irregularity and rejects symbolism. The law of Islam which forbade the delineation of living objects was not however, always observed in this palace of half Europeanised Arabs.

Excerpt from the book:

Granada and the Alhambra:
A Brief Description of the Ancient City of Granada, With a Particular Account of the Moorish Palace
by Albert Frederick Calvert